Page Printer - the more general (and accurate) name used to describe non-impact printers which produce a complete page in one action. Examples include laser, LED and LCD shutter xerographic printers, ion deposition, electro-erosion and electro-photographic printers.

Pagination - the numbering of pages in a book.

Pantone (PMS: Pantone Matching System) - a registered name for an ink colour matching system.

Paper plate - a short run offset printing plate on which matter can be typed directly.

Parallel fold - a method of folding; eg two parallel folds will produce a six page sheet. (For more information on folds, please refer to Folding Techniques Menu under Print Workshop.)

Perfect binding - a common method of binding paperback books. After the printed sections having been collated, the spines will be ground off and the cover glued on.

Perfecting - Printing the second side of a sheet; backing-up.

Perfector - a printing press which prints both sides of the paper at one pass through the machine.

Photogravure - (see Gravure) a printing process where the image is etched into the plate cylinder. The main advantage of this method of printing is the high speed, long run capability. Used mainly for mail order and magazine work.

Pica - a printing industry unit of measurement. There are 12 points to a pica, one pica is approximately 0.166in.

Picking - the effect of ink being too tacky and lifting fibres out of the paper. Shows up as small white dots on areas of solid colour.

Pipelining - the ability of a program to flow automatically text from the end of one column or page to the beginning of the next. An extra level of sophistication can be created by allowing the flow to be re-directed to any page and not just the next available. This is ideal for US-style magazines where everything is 'Continued on...'!

Piling - In printing, the build-up of ink on rollers, plates or blankets which cause an uneven, mottled appearance in the print.

Pin Marks - In web printing, the web of paper can be driven into the folder by pins which penetrate the surface of the web on the outer edges of the sheet.  The resulting holes are called pin marks.  Pin marks are usually trimmed off but newspapers often have visible pin marks

Pixel - In electronic imaging, the basic unit of digital imaging.

Plate Cylinder - The cylinder of a press onto which the printing plate is mounted.

Platesetter - An output device which produces a finished printing plate directly from Ripped data. Also known as a CTP device.

Point - the standard unit of type size of which there are 72 to the inch (one point is approximately 0.01383in). Point size is the measure from the top of the ascender to the bottom of the descender.

Portrait - an upright image or page where the height is greater than the width.

PostScript - A page description language (PDL) developed by Adobe, which defines the contents and layout of a page in electronic form. PostScript is also programming language which is interpreted by a PostScript RIP in output devices such as Filmsetters or Platesetters (CTP) in order to reproduce the original page.

Pre-Press - The stage of the print production process which takes place after design and before printing.

Primary colours - cyan, magenta and yellow. These three colours when mixed together with black will produce a reasonable reproduction of all other colours.

Print engine - the parts of a page printer which perform the print-imaging, fixing and paper transport. In fact, everything but the controller.

Process blue - the blue or cyan colour in process printing.

Progressives - colour proofs taken at each stage of printing showing each colour printed singly and then superimposed on the preceding colour.

Proof - A version of a document or colour illustration produced specifically for the purpose of review prior to reproduction.

Proof correction marks - a standard set of signs and symbols used in copy preparation and to indicate corrections on proofs. Marks are placed both in the text and in the margin.

Proportional spacing - a method of spacing whereby each character is spaced to accommodate the varying widths of letters or figures, so increasing readability. Books and magazines are set proportionally spaced, typewritten documents are generally monospaced.

Pulp - the raw material used in paper making consisting mainly of wood chips, rags or other fibres. Broken down by mechanical or chemical means.

PUR Binding - The same process as perfect binding, but a synthetic adhesive (Polyurethane React) is used in place of conventional hot-melt glue. The glued spine is more pliable and the adhesive bond much stronger than a perfect bound product and so has increased longevity.